Acupuncture has been used to rid the body of disease, and even to prevent disease in healthy people, for thousands of years. Considered alternative or complementary medicine today, acupuncture is the insertion of fine needles into the body for health or therapeutic purposes.
In using acupuncture my goal is to bring the body into balance, to help the body’s own healing mechanisms to function properly. At New River Healing Arts I practice a form of acupuncture called Classical Chinese Medicine, specifically based in the work of Nguyen Van Nghi, MD. Dr. Van Nghi was a world renowned lecturer on acupuncture, who translated a unique set of the classical Chinese texts from ancient Vietnamese into French. My teacher, Dr. Sean Marshall, was a student of Dr. Van Nghi. Dr. Marshall stressed that as practitioners we must endeavor not to treat disease, but instead, we must create health. I believe that is an important distinction.
Imagine a healthy tree. It has long roots with strong, flexible branches and vibrant leaves. Now imagine that something weakens some of its roots, perhaps an animal, poor soil, or a toxin. How will the branches on that side of the tree fair? It seems likely they will be less vibrant, less robust, perhaps even drop leaves. The whole tree might eventually be affected. Being weaker, the tree might succumb to a parasite or virus.
How would we help this tree? The effect on the branches is obvious to us, so we might prune them, spray them, etc., but if the roots are still weak, perhaps becoming weaker, what can we expect in the future? The roots must be made well, or the tree might always suffer consequences. These days the standard treatment for many diseases is a drug, and too often it only addresses the symptoms. While some drugs are life-savers, too few treat the root–the cause–of the problem. As a result too many people are on medications that can harm the body and create symptoms of their own.
Good acupuncture aims to treat the root cause of a patient’s condition. When the body has a strong foundation and its homeostatic mechanisms are restored, it can achieve its potential, whatever that might be. The beauty of this approach is that nearly all conditions will see benefit from acupuncture.
Generally speaking, disease is not our natural state. Most chronic conditions are both treatable and preventable if the source of the symptoms is addressed. When we lack energy, or have pain or discomfort, we are usually feeling the effects on our branches. These symptoms are the visible and palpable signs of a body out of balance. I am here to help you restore balance.
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